Sowerby () was a county constituency centred on the village of Sowerby in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
History The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Calder Valley constituency.
Boundaries 1885–1918:
1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Todmorden, the Urban Districts of Barkisland, Hebden Bridge, Luddendenfoot, Midgley, Mytholmroyd, Rishworth, Sowerby, Sowerby Bridge, and Soyland, the Rural District of Todmorden, and the civil parish of Norland in the Rural District of Halifax.
1950–1983: The Municipal Borough of Todmorden, the Urban Districts of Elland, Hebden Royd, Ripponden, and Sowerby Bridge, and the Rural District of Hepton.
Members of Parliament ElectionMemberParty 1885 Edward Crossley Liberal 1892 John William Mellor Liberal 1904 John Sharp Higham Liberal 1918 Robert Hewitt Barker Independent NADSS 1922 William Simpson-Hinchliffe Unionist 1923 Arnold Williams Liberal 1924 Geoffrey Shaw Unionist 1929 William John Tout Labour 1931 Malcolm McCorquodale Conservative 1945 John Belcher Labour 1949 Douglas Houghton Labour 1974 Max Madden Labour 1979 Donald Thompson Conservative1983 constituency abolished
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
*Some sources describe Bailey as a Liberal Unionist.
Elections in the 1900s
some sources describe as Liberal Unionist
Elections in the 1910s
An official Unionist candidate was selected ahead of the election, but when the writ for the election was issued, the Coalition Whips ordered the local Unionists to withdraw the candidate in favour of Higham – who was given the Coalition Coupon but then repudiated it. Some local Unionists were angered by this state of affairs, and persuaded the local branch of the NADSS to sponsor Barker, who was known to be a Conservative. Barker then received considerable support from local Unionists during the campaign. There is no information on whether he took a whip in the House of Commons, but he voted fairly consistently with the coalition.
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
General Election 1939–40:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: Malcolm McCorquodale Labour: Cyril Hackett Wilkinson
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
References
Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. .